Saturday, September 29, 2007

Chuck E Cheese, Chinese Moon Fest & Mia















It's been a busy couple of days around here. Since the boys birthday's aren only six weeks apart and they both wanted a Chuck E Cheese party we split the difference and had a joint party on the 28th. It turned out really well and they had an absolute blast. Then, since we completely forgot Chinese Moon Fest on Tuesday we finally celebrated on Friday night with friends. It was a short, uneventful event with a fire and some moon pies. Today we had the fun of getting to see Mia again. We met Mia and her parents in China and traveled with them. Since we haven't seen them in almost a year it was fun to catch up and see the girls together. Mia is only ten days older than Paige and their size difference is pretty funny. Paige is little for her age and Mia is big but both are healthy, beautiful girls!

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

A year ago today...


we found out we had a daughter in China. Of course we already knew that but after two years we finally knew when she was born, where she was and what her name was. The pictures we received were actually taken in June or July but they were the first we ever saw of her so I've put them in the collage to show how much she has changed!
I still remember waiting for the phone call and the way my heart was pounding in my chest when the call finally came, the surreal feeling as I told the boys they had a sister and then ran out to tell Rick we had a daughter. What an amazing day that was!
Today also happens to be Chinese Moon Festival which is a huge family event in China. So we will celebrate tonight with moon pies and a fire outside while we remember what it took to make us a family forever.

It's never as easy as it looks!


Just trying to get one good picture took over 40 tries! She knows I want her to look at me and smile and is bound and determined NOT to do exactly that. I thought the attempts were pretty funny. She danced in the chair and tried to run away giggling, rolled on her back on the floor and pulled the blanket down on her head! It's a miracle I got any good ones!

Paige's Bebe's!


She loves her babies and when ever she can get ahold of all three this is how she carries them around.
In the last few weeks her vocabulary has just exploded! She will tell you "Dada wuk" or "Bace cool" (Daddy work and Trace school) among a ton of other things! It is so fun to hear her little voice. She is also a great supporter of her big brothers at their soccer games and practice's each week. Paige is a busy little girl and keeps us on our feet. She loves to giggle and tease. And we adore her.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

I've waited so long for this moment.

I have always hoped my daughter would love dolls and especially dollhouses as much as myself. She has already shown an interest in babies but this was truely the icing on the cake for me!

However...
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I just didn't imagine it quite like THIS.

Now to their credit, Caden aksed for his GI Joe guys and Trace was putting the babies in the mailbox and refridgerator!
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Do we need to start therapy?

I'm wondering if Caden has "issues" with women. He drew this picture last night of Rick and I. Rick is on the left with the nice smily face. That would be me on the right with the medusa hair and buck teeth. Hmmmm...
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007

In our arms as long as another's...



Our beautiful baby girl has passed two important milestones almost simultaneously. She turned 18 months old and has now been with us longer than she was in China. We are constantly amazed at the changes. She's finally starting to really try talking and says mama, dada, please, no, apple, bye bye, sit and night night all pretty clearly. There are a bunch of others but they can only be interpreted by us! She has started nodding her head yes also. Paige loves water. The bath, the shower or a pool. I never shower alone any more. One morning I was rinsing my hair when I felt a little hand on my leg! Guess who had joined me?! She knows where the crackers and cereal bars are kept, has been successful once on the potty, uses a fork and spoon like a pro, puts things in the garbage, gets a diaper when asked, and loves to scowl at us just to get a laugh! Such a joy she is to our family! In a couple weeks we will also be remembering the day one year ago when our long wait finally came to an end. The day we found out who our daughter was! We thought we waited a long time but in the last year China has only gotten through 4 months! In other words we were logged into the China system July 26, 2006 and they have now assigned babies to families who were logged in up to November 25, 2006! I am so grateful for God's timing and how perfect Paige is for our family.

Six Flags Summer Send Off





We had a very busy Labor Day weekend around here! On Saturday we took the kids on a long promised trip to Six Flags. It was a wonderful day with beautiful weather. We all had a lot of fun in Bugs Bunny's Ball house. Rick had the hugest grin on his face as he was launching balls through the guns at me and Paige. We were probably in there almost an hour! Trace and Rick were also very excited to be able to say they rode on every roller coaster in the park! Never mind the last one they went running to with the park closing in ten minutes and they were the last ones on! It was almost midnight when we made it home and collapsed into bed.

Take me out to the ball game...

Once we drug ourselves out of bed on Sunday Rick took Caden up flying. While they were gone the neighbor mentioned going to the last Jackhammer's game of the season. (minor league basseball). I knew Caden really wanted to go to one so we agreed to go. The kids were so excited! I'm not sure they saw much of the actual game but it didn't matter either. Part way through a man came over to us and asked if he could give Caden a ball - Cadne was thrilled! Then later his friend came back and gave one to Brandon too (our friends/neighbors littlest one). The bigger boys were sure jealous! The game finished off with a fireworks display the Paige was fascinated with and then autograph signing. The boys got everyone's autograph before we were able to leave!




Asleep in the bowling alley

When we got home from the ball game Sunday night there was a message from another family wanting to see if we were interested in bowling the next afternoon! Since we've promised this to the boys all summer also we decided to suck it up and go. Especially since they had cupons for .99 cents! Trace loved the time he got to spend with his old school friends and Caden just loved getting to bowl. It was a nice afternoon that Rick and the boys finished off with another quick flight. All I can say is Whew! Glad that's over now we're back into soccer season!